A Christian Holocaust

Are they coming to a town near you? Or are they already there?

The last few weeks have been awful for Christians the world over as we look helplessly on what is happening to our brothers and sisters in the faith in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The self-styled "Islamic State" group have been slashing their way through Christian villages, homes and churches, forcing people to flee for their lives, stealing their belongings and presenting the ultimate ultimatum to those unable to get away from them: convert or die.  This is a Christian holocaust. And it has been happening for the last number of months.

There has been a response from the west, the US has sent the air-force in to hamper IS's progress towards Kurdish territory and some supplies are being dropped to thousands of refugees, the UK air-force is assisting in this. While supplies are needed, these military actions will not stop IS: the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church has expressed his disappointment with the anemic response from the west.  When you listen to the news, certainly here in Ireland, the emphasis is on the unfortunate Yazidis and the humanitarian crisis facing them, the massacre of Christians for the last number of months is hardly referred to, so much so that many do not even know Christians are being obliterated. 

But of course those who see the reality of the problem know that we are now facing the most serious problem with militant Islam in recent times.  With the west's head firmly stuck in the sand, and with such a late and paltry response, one which may well convince these militants that the west is fast asleep, there is a danger that this radical group's progress will not be hampered. One of the problems the west may not have thought about is the real possibility that radicalized Muslims around the world, seeing the effectiveness of this group, may well rally to IS's cause. IS has already proclaimed a Caliphate, the dream of so many radical Muslims, particularly young disillusioned ones, and though it may sound silly and anachronistic to us, it may not to young men ambitious to turn the world into the realm of Islam.  So far, I have been told, IS controls an area as large as Great Britain.

And lest we think this progress is confined to the Middle East, we have to remember that IS has its sights set on Europe and eventually the US. They have to reestablish Istanbul as their city - members of the group have already said they are planning a campaign to take Istanbul, and after that undo the defeat at Vienna. If they were to seek to invade in the usual way they may not achieve those aims - people have said that the west's military ability will be well able to stop them. But how will the west stop members of IS already present in Europe and the Americas who wage a guerrilla war as the first stage of an invasion campaign? Lest we fool ourselves it is sobering to remember that IS flags have been seen at pro-Palestinian marches in recent weeks.

That said, the appalling truth is that the west, the US, EU, UN, have stood by as thousands of Christians in Iraq have been forced out of their land, many of them executed in a most brutal way. It seems from this lack of response that when Christians are being killed it is of no interest to the secular governments of the "free world", however, when a group like the Yazidis are in danger, then it is okay to come to their rescue, that is acceptable. And I am sad to say leadership in the Catholic Church has been no better: pious words, calls for peace and an envoy will not achieve much; they will not stop IS terrorists hacking the head off another Christian child.

The Yazidi are getting the help they need, thank God for that. On Mount Sinjar supplies are being distributed and journalists are crawling around like ants. But in the refugee camps outside Ibril where Christians are taking refuge, people are starting to die. As one person working there tweeted to me a couple of days ago, they need so much and are getting so little, no one seems interested.

I note with some chagrin that our government here in Ireland has said next to nothing. The Americans may complain about their President off playing golf on his holidays, at least he sent the air-force in and yes, more needs to be done. But our lot here are doing nothing. Our Senate was recalled a few weeks ago to give Senators an opportunity to condemn Israel in the conflict with Gaza. No sign of any of them being recalled to propose and consider what to do to assist Christian men, women and children in Iraq who are facing annihilation. Alas they will not, there are no votes in it, and after all, what are martyred Christians in comparison with an American Country singer?

An Opportunity?

It has been announced by the government that they must hold a referendum on the EU Fiscal Compact Treaty which is being drafted to help ease the Euro crisis.  This is the treaty Britain has refused to enter into.

It will be most interesting to see how the government handles this one.  In Ireland we tend to have issues with EU treaties and we usually reject them until the government orders a second vote and threatens us, and so the referendums are passed second time round, usually out of fear.  That, my friends, is Irish democracy - not quite the Syrian model, but sometimes not too far off it.

Reading some of the news articles and the comments under them, I think the government may have a lot to fear.  Now for the treaty to be passed the consent of only twelve countries is required, so the Irish cannot hold the EU to ransom, so there is not as much fear.  However, it would be important for it to be passed here given the state of Ireland's economy and the fact that our begging bowl is well and truly planted in Germany.

Some are saying that we may have an opportunity here: if the government wants us to vote yes, then we might bargain for the vote.  It might also be possible to get the Troika to sit down and have another look at the austerity measures and some of the debt to unsecured investors which we are being forced to honour, giving these investors huge profits on their original investments.   Any chance of reopening the embassy to the Holy See?  Many Catholics are very angry and "yes" may not be a word they would be inclined to utter in the government's favour. 

We will watch this one carefully.  We will need to examine the treaty carefully - it may not be in Ireland's best interests in the long run - Britain has serious issues with it, and I think it might be a good idea to listen to what they have to say.

All Of A Flutter.....

It seems our MEPs and others are getting themselves in a dreadful flutter, literally, following the remarks made by an EU commissioner concerning the Irish flag.  German Gunter Oettinger has suggested that the Irish tricolour, and the flags of other indebted nations, should be flown at half-mast to symbolise the financial state of their economies and as a deterrent.  Some are calling for his resignation.

I have to smile.  Our MEPs are irate at the insult to our flag and, I presume, the sovereignty it symbolises.  Well, friends, we have no sovereignty - we are owned by the EU and the IMF.  And why so angry?  Our Taoiseach defamed the Pope and misrepresented the Holy See in the Dail: surely if we can hand it out, we can take it too?  It seems not.  Interesting that the suggestion has come from a German: my sources tell me the Germans are not impressed with what the Irish have said about "their Pope".  As regards resignations, why should Herr Oettinger  resign when people who have said and done worse in Ireland are allowed stay where they are? 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that the Americans, in their committment to democracy and free speech, allow the burning of the Stars and Stripes in legitimate protest - could be something we might consider here. 

Is Ireland Going Down The Swanee?

Over the last few days the media has been reporting on the worsening economic situation here in Ireland.  Now the EU and IMF are urging our government to accept a bailout to help sort out the crisis, but our Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Minister for Finance are resisting it.  Today, we are told, representatives from the EU and the IMF arrive in Dublin for "negotiations" with our government - economists and journalists see the writing on the wall - the IMF is about to take over and our government is in denial.  The British have told us that they are willing and ready to help us out - you imagine how that will be received by the Irish!

I am no economist, and to be honest when I listen to all the information which is being spilled out like blood in a abattoir, I get wheezy.  Are things that bad?   People are now saying that Ireland is about to lose her sovereignty, hard won back in the 1920's - although we have thrown a lot of it away with the various EU treaties we have signed up for.  But the big question is: is Ireland about to collapse?  We are being told that the future of the EU is at stake - we have heard that before too.  Is the Euro about to collapse too?   No harm, we never liked it anyway - Monopoly money which helped hike up the prices here. 

People are in a bad way here - I look around and see unemployment going up and despair rising with it.  Every time I go to Dublin now I see many more sleeping on the streets - not just the Roma who run an organised begging business, but others - ordinary Irish, sleeping in doorways - not dishevelled and dirty, but clean and respectable, now hiding behind cardboard.  Our suicide rate is rising, although there may be other factors there - the loss of faith tends to have a role to play there, but certainly many people feel like there is no way out of their troubles. 

But, you know, we have been travelling to this point for a long time, even when the economic boom made us one of the richest countries in the world.  Some have said that the Irish did not know how to handle wealth - and you know, I agree with that.  When we got wealthy we lost a lot of our humanity, and we lost our faith.  Someone once said to me about five years ago that the Irish had no civility - they had money now and they were bossy and ignorant, unmannerly - our wealth went to our heads and we thought we were "IT".   I have to agree with that.  Many Irish were insufferable.  As a priest I experienced many Irish looking down their noses at me and my faith - the superstitions of peasants, now they were rich they no longer had need for such childish occupations.  Perhaps we have ended up where we deserve to be - the pariah of Europe.  We need to learn humility.  A friend to mine once said that it takes a lot of humiliation to learn a little humility - is this the programme laid out for Ireland's return to faith?

Perhaps I am being too harsh.  There are those who do need to be taken down a peg or two, we leave them to God, but there are also those who are suffering, many of whom did not benefit from the Celtic Tiger in the first place - my heart goes out to them.   Our charities are under tremendous strain - the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which I have worked with for a number of years, is counting the pennies and relying on God's providence.   I can only hope that the Lord will look after them and keep the money rolling in.  Some cases the organisation have to deal with are shocking, crippling debts that cannot be sorted and whatever help the Society can give is a mere drop in the ocean. 

Well, I think now is the time for faith.  We have landed ourselves in pickle - an enormous, acidic pickle jammed in a jar, and I think it is bringing to us to have a good look at ourselves.   It is the old story over again - man messes up, God has to sort it out - such is our fallen humanity.  I pray something good will come out of all this, and I pray that that will be a return to our faith and a healthy distrust of the prestige wealth and status (and sophistication) bring.   I believe things will be sorted, but in the meantime we need to look after our new poor.  Time, perhaps, for new Catholic foundations to reach out to them.  Who knows, maybe all of this will help in the renewal of the Church in Ireland. God alone knows, so we must let him guide us.